Thursday, March 28, 2013

As a government, enemies are useful, an opportunity. If you’re good with words and construct a clever enough message, enemies can mean a carte blanche to promote your agenda, however entitled, hegemonic or ambitious that agenda might be.

In the U.S. in the second half of the twentieth century, the enemy was Communism. And how our vocabularies grew! Terms like the Domino Effect, the Red Scare, Containment, and the Evil Empire only scratch the surface of this new linguistic territory. But what did it get us on the ground, in real life? It’s complicated and vast, but most definitely includes the Vietnam War, interventions in Central America, secret bombing of Cambodia, overthrows of democratically elected Arbenz, Lumumba, Allende, and Mossadegh - just to name a few.

In the 21st century, Terrorism became the enemy. And again, a whole new dictionary to describe this threat: “unknown unknowns,” WMDs, “jealous of our freedoms,” enriched uranium. And what did it get us? Among other things, Two wars, illegal wiretapping, Abu Ghraib, waterboarding, unmanned drones.

In Mexico, the enemy is Narcotrafficking. And again, one can get dizzy with the terminology: drug lords, narcoterrorism, all of the cartels, even new words to describe specific types of mutilation. In 2006, the militarization of Mexico began under Felipe Calderón, later bolstered by the U.S.- Mexican agreement known as the Mérida Intiative. And what have we gotten? Mexican security forces have committed widespread human rights violations, including extrajudicial killngs, disappearances (nearly 250 between December 2006 and December 2012, according to Human Rights Watch), and torture. Almost none of these were adequately investigated.

Like in the U.S. during the Cold War and the War on Terrorism, there are many Mexican organizations and individuals speaking the truth about the War on Drugs, the U.S.’s extensive complicity, and the devastation that these policies have wrought. Comité Cerezo México is one of these. http://www.comitecerezo.org/ Founded in 2001 in response to the unjust detention of brothers Alejando, Héctor and Antonio Cerezo Contreras, the organization tirelessly monitors human rights violations throughout Mexico, documenting cases of forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and political prisoners, in addition to training human rights defenders.

Witness for Peace is pleased to announce that this October, we’ll be having a Speaker’sTour in the Upper Midwest Region with Francisco Cerezo of Comité Cerezo México. Stay posted for details around dates and locations!

(If you’re interested in hosting an event during this tour or learning about events in the Upper Midwest Region, email Elise at wfpumw@witnessforpeace.org, or join the Upper Midwest email list here:

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Witness for Peace is a politically independent grassroots organization committed to nonviolence and led by faith and conscience. Witness for Peace's mission is to support peace, justice, and sustainable economies by changing the policies and practices which contribute to poverty and oppression in Latin America and the Caribbean.